Corruption: Another blow against elected judges
The Economist reports that two judges in Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County admitted sentencing thousands of children to jail in return for kickbacks from a prison-management company. Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan received a commission for every day they sent a child to private juvenile detention centres run by Pennsylvania Child Care and a sister company. The pay-offs came to $2.6m over seven years.
The judges are going to jail, but the prison companies have so far avoided prosecution. Mr Schwartz fears this is because Robert Powell, the former co-owner of Pennsylvania Child Care, has been co-operating with the authorities. If the prisons get off, though, that will be another disgrace.